Arriving on the scene with unshakeable new single ‘Miss You’, released via Glassnote Records, James Hersey’s talent for songs that will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever experienced heightened emotions, i.e. everyone, is strikingly evident.

Co-produced by James alongside Ed Sheeran collaborator Will Hicks and mixed by StephenFitzmaurice (Sam Smith, Disclosure, Kwabs), the track quickly racked up over 57 million streams and counting. A spacious, captivating future classic, it holds nods to the dance world but is also deeply personal, dealing with the idea of connections between people.

With Annie Mac selecting James as one of her ‘New Names’ in late 2016, a stellar HONNE remix that immediately catapulted to #1 on Hype Machine and plaudits from DIY to BBC Newsbeat, Unilad, Indie Shuffle, Wonderland Magazine, Mahogany and many more, James is making all the crucial inroads to become one of 2017’s brightest hopes.

“I wrote and produced the first draft of ‘Miss You’ in two virtuallysleepless days and nights. Three days later I was on a plane to England to cut (and finish writing) what is now my debut single,” James explains. “It was like windsurfing, when you catch the right gust at the right moment and you’re catapulted forward by this incredible, invisible force. That’s what it feels like to write music you love.”

Despite ‘Miss You’ forming Hersey’s debut single, his voice is one many listeners will be familiar with. ‘Coming Over’, Hersey’s delicate, summer-tinged ode to delayed desires, is a song that took on a whole new life in the dance arena. Initially remixed by Filous (32m Spotify streams and counting), it’s since been subtly reworked by Kygo & Dillon Francis (a staggering 84m Spotify streams and counting). Its success has led to dance legend Tiesto offering up a remix and Hersey touring Europe with Kygo himself.

Now based in Berlin but born and raised in Austria’s capital Vienna, Hersey’s childhood was filled with music. Guitar lessons were augmented by impromptu family music concerts. The house also reverberated to the sounds of Bob Marley, Grateful Dead and, in the mid-nineties, hip-hop. For Hersey himself, Michael Jackson was King.

Happy to explore musical genres, utilizing that grounding in folk, pop, and rock from a young age, Hersey’s songs work in different musical contexts because at the core of them lies classic songwriting. Crucially, the thread throughout is always Hersey himself.